1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile machine for distributing and planing ballast supporting a track, which comprises an elongated machine frame supported by undercarriages on the track for mobility in an operating direction, the machine frame having a rear end in this direction, a ballast plow connected to the machine frame, a ballast storage container mounted on the machine frame, a carrier frame linked to the machine frame, and a ballast sweeping and receiving arrangement comprising a ballast broom connected to the carrier frame for sweeping ballast off the track and a conveyor band having an input end arranged to receive the ballast swept by the broom.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A ballast distributing and planing machine of this type has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,184, dated Oct. 12, 1971. The front end of the machine carries a plow for shaping and planing the ballast in the center of the track, and the ballast storage container is mounted on the machine frame between the undercarriages supporting the same on the track and receives ballast swept up from the ballast bed for storing therein and redistributes the stored ballast in desired areas of the track through controllable discharge openings in the bottom of the container. A ballast sweeping and receiving arrangement is arranged in the rear of the machine and comprises a ballast broom and an ascending conveyor band receiving ballast swept up by the broom. This arrangement is linked to an elongated carrier frame whose front end is mounted on the machine frame for pivoting about an axis extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the elongated carrier frame and is connected to a vertical adjustment drive. This arrangement enables excess ballast to be swept off the track and to be conveyed by the ascending conveyor band to the storage container. The pivotal carrier frame supporting the ballast sweeping and receiving arrangement enables the same to be pivoted between a lowered operating position and a raised transit position.
British patent No. 1,169,721, published Nov. 5, 1969, discloses a mobile ballast surfacing machine with a ballast sweeping and receiving arrangement at the rear end of the machine and comprising two ballast brooms directing swept-up ballast into a loading shovel receiving the swept ballast. A pivotal arm carries the arrangement to enable the shovel to the emptied into a ballast storage container preceding the arrangement upon raising the carrier arm over the container. This arrangement operates without a ballast conveyor band but it is structurally rather complex.